


Project of a Nobody

by nintenboyy



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Happy, Family Fluff, Organization XIII is a messy family, Redemption, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 05:41:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17238458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nintenboyy/pseuds/nintenboyy
Summary: Roxas gets a school project, but doesn't know how to go about it. In order to get good ideas, he asks for the help of a few friends, along with the Organization (despite his hesitance).





	1. The Assignment (Naminé)

**Author's Note:**

> a fun little thing i've always wanted to try out!

_"Create a poster depicting a family tree. Write short descriptions of each person; bullet points or a small paragraph is acceptable. Make sure that the poster is colorful and gives an idea of what your family is like. Include yourself in the tree as well. Drawings, such as their faces, their favorite things, or what you personally attribute to them, is encouraged. No sloppy or minimal effort. This project is due in two weeks."_  
  
  
Roxas groaned as he stared at the paper, sluggishly walking across the streets of Twilight Town. Of course it had to be an artistic project, the _one_ thing he's terrible at. Anytime they assigned something relating to art, Roxas would struggle every time, mostly just plastering stuff down hastily and never giving it a second thought. He had heard the laughs and seen the weird looks he got whenever he turned one in--even the teacher would give him a bewildered stare.  He could even endure another essay at this point.  
  
  
Trying to get his mind off of things, Roxas decided to appease his thoughts the only way he knows how.  
  
_Ice cream._  
  
He shoved the project paper in his backpack and made his way towards the ice cream shop, down the usual path. In his mind, he definitely needed this, now more than ever. He fumbled around the pockets of his school uniform, trying to find the slightest bit of munny. His hand finally reached the very corner, and he had the exact amount he needed.  
  
Roxas rushed to the shop, munny in hand. He excitedly slammed his balled up fist on the counter, accidentally startling the person behind it. He let the munny fall from his hand, some of them rolling in various directions.  
  
"Wh--Oh, it's just you again! Don't scare me like that, Roxas!"  
  
"Heh...sorry 'bout that." Roxas said with an embarrassed grin, eyes looking away from the counter. "The usual, please."  
  
Roxas passed the munny over to the clerk and impatiently waited for the ice cream, tapping his fingers on the wood and fidgeting around.  
  
"Here you g--," the man said as he handed the ice cream over to Roxas, but barely had time to finish as the boy quickly snatched the treat from his hand. Roxas' distant "THANK YOU!" was heard as he looked up to see Roxas already dashing away. Man, the kid was fast.  
  
Roxas ate his ice cream, desperately trying to get the thought of his project to go away...but not even ice cream would help. He sighed heavily, still munching on the little bit he had left. He spotted an "R" on the end of the stick, and suddenly bit off the last chunk of ice cream as soon as he could.  
  
Ah. That famous "WINNER" stick. Maybe this would be a sign for good luck. He shoved the stick in his pocket and continued to walk around town.  
  
"What am I gonna do..." Roxas said to himself in a discouraging tone. "I'm not that creative....and I definitely can't do this all on my own!"  
  
Roxas kicked the ground, dissatisfied and filled with doubt of his own imagination. Well, if he couldn't think of anything, maybe he knows someone else who's good at--  
  
Something finally hit him. The word echoed on and on throughout his head, and as if on command, he dashed out of Twilight Town deep into the woods.  
  
"Naminé."  
  
  
  
  
After battling the large gates and navigating the ruins of the mansion, Roxas finally found the girl's room. He knocked on the door, humming to himself as he awaited a response.  
  
"Who is it..?" a tiny voice called out from behind the door.  
  
"It's Roxas. Can I come in?" Roxas said, making sure he talked softly.  
  
"Oh! Of course, come in!" Her tone immediately shifted to timid from enthusiastic.  
  
Roxas hadn't visited Naminé in quite some time, realizing this as she gave him a warm and comforting hug. He was flustered by it, but didn't want to reject her. He hugged her back, his arms giving her a friendly little squeeze.  
  
"I'm so glad to see you!" she blurted out, her smile beaming. "Do you want to see the new drawings I made?"  
  
On the white walls were hundreds, possibly more, papers, neatly organized and hung up carefully. Some were landscapes, others were portraits of herself or other people. He always admired Naminé's cute artwork. A certain drawing caught Roxas' eye, and he went to go look at it. It was a picture of him, holding his signature sea salt ice cream. Roxas giggled at the picture and pointed at it.  
  
"This one is great!" He flashed a proud grin at Naminé. Her eyes lit up, and she nodded her head as a simple thanks. After he finished looking at the drawing, he made himself comfortable on a chair near the long table.  
  
"I actually came here to ask you something."  
  
Naminé pushed her blonde hair back and tilted her head. "Huh? What is it?"

  
Roxas began to pout, and reached over his shoulder to grab his backpack. He unzipped it, and pulled out the project paper, now crumpled and with a bit of the side torn off. He threw it over to Naminé, who managed to catch it despite frantically moving her hands. Her eyes wandered all over the paper, making Roxas a bit nervous, wondering if she was gonna make fun of him for it.  
  
"Roxas," she began, her eyes wide in surprise.  
  
_Oh man..._  
  
"You go to school now?! No wonder I haven't seen you lately! You could've at least told me be--"  
  
"Naminé!" Roxas interrupted. Great, now he felt bad, but he needed to stay on task. "I'm sorry for not saying anything...but still, let's get back to my question."  
  
"Okay then." Naminé set the paper in front of her and stared at Roxas, with a rather intense focus.  
  
"See, I'm not very....artistic." the boy said with a bit of shame in his voice. "You're good at drawing, maybe you can help me out with how it looks!"  
  
Naminé gave a soft smile, and looked at the paper again. "Oh, sure! I can do that Roxas. It'll be fun!"  
  
"Great!" Roxas ran over to her and held out his hand for a high-five, with Naminé returning it maybe a little _too_ hard, causing him to let out a small "ow.....".  
  
Well. That was easy. Roxas at least felt a little better about the whole thing. But there was one problem. He let out a loud groan, forgetting that Naminé was there for a second.  
  
"Now I have to worry about the stupid family part..." he muttered under his breath, with a grumpy expression on his face. "It's not like I actually have a family."  
  
Naminé backed away in confusion, wondering if Roxas was just joking around. She playfully punched him in the shoulder.  
  
"You can't be serious, Roxas!" She said in-between giggles. "You do have a family, silly!"  
  
"What do you mean? I don't have a mom or a dad or a brother or--" He was cut off by another punch.  
  
"Isn't Axel your family? He's kind of like your dad. And Xion? Friends are family too! And hey, the Organization's technically your family."  
  
Roxas scoffed at her words. "Do you...think so? It may be a little...awkward. I mean, sure, the Organization's cool _now_ but it might be a little weird to write about them being a family."  
  
Naminé shook her head and placed a hand on Roxas' shoulder. "Family doesn't have to be blood, you know? It can be anyone! Just like how I consider Sora, Riku, and Kairi to be my family." She gave him another soft smile.  
  
Roxas pondered about it. He had never really considered Axel and Xion to be "family." And he certainly didn't think of the Organization as family either. Just...friends and acquaintances. He was still getting used to this existing part after all.  
  
"Just try it!" she poked Roxas' face, encouraging him with overwhelming positivity.  
  
"A-Alright." Roxas replied, scratching his head.  
  
"Come back around these next two weeks, and we can work on the drawings together!" Naminé said, now urging Roxas to get out of the mansion.  
  
The boy did as he was told (although reluctantly), and soon left the mansion, still holding onto that stupid project paper. He opened up a corridor of darkness to get ready to go home, but stood still for a while.  
  
"Axel...Xion...the Organization. Family....?"  he repeated in his mind. He frowned a bit and pushed the paper into his pocket, and headed in the corridor.


	2. A Little Help (Axel/Organization XIII)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas thinks about Naminé's words on the way home, and informs Axel about his project. Hoping it would be beneficial, Roxas soon finds out that telling Axel was probably a mistake.

"Family..."  
  
No matter how many times Roxas said it, the word stuck with him. He would feel bad just disregarding Naminé's advice, but he still wasn't sure about the whole thing. The Organization as a family? He would hardly call it that...the very idea sounded ridiculous to him. But then again, he never truly had the time to think about things like family in the first place.  
  
_Whatever.  
  
_Roxas looked down at his feet, the darkness below him slowly morphing into concrete, indicating that he was finally home.  
  
He gazed up at the moon, still in the shape of Kingdom Hearts after all this time (per Xemnas' request). The World That Never Was isn't exactly the most welcoming place compared to Twilight Town, but it did have its own beauty to it. Dusks were everywhere around the city, more than what Roxas was used to seeing. They were hanging about on the signs and crowding around each other. A few noticed the boy walking past, and began slithering their way to him. They probably wanted to say hello, but in all honesty, Roxas didn't want to deal with them. He dashed towards the castle, making sure to leave a quick "Sorry!" behind. He didn't want to be rude, after all.  
  
After narrowly escaping the Dusks, Roxas entered the castle with relief. All that walking is such a pain. Not being skilled in using corridors efficiently like the others stinks. He darted to the nearest sofa he could find in the Grey Area, and flung his backpack to the floor. He inhaled sharply, letting out a heavy sigh and resting his head on the cushion.   
  
"Yo Roxas," a familiar voice called out. "Tough school day, huh?"  
  
Of course it was Axel. Roxas waved his hand lazily, motioning for his friend to come over. His eyes stayed fixated on the ceiling, moving his legs so that Axel could sit down beside him.  
  
"Ugh, you wouldn't _believe_ what they gave us for a project!"  
  
Axel could only chuckle, not wanting to admit that Roxas' annoyance humored him. "Is it the ar--"  
  
"Yes, it's the dumb art! They should know by now I'm not good at this kind of thing!" he cried out in irritation.  
  
"Hey, hey. It's gonna be alright." Axel patted the boy's shoulder reassuringly. "What's the project this time?"  
  
Roxas shuffled around his pocket and gave Axel the crumpled up project paper, continuing to stare at the ceiling.  
  
Axel let out a small "huh" as he skimmed through. "This doesn't sound as bad as you made it out to be." He tossed the paper back to Roxas.  
  
"You didn't read the rest, then. The family part, the poster, the _drawings_. Can't think of anything for that!"  
  
Axel rolled his eyes and teasingly nudged Roxas. "Man, you're being dramatic. You're already covered for all of those things!"  
  
Roxas finally sat up on the sofa, giving the man a puzzled expression. "What?"  
  
"Gee, you're forgetful sometimes." Axel smirked. "I'm sure Vexen or Zexion have a ton of posters they're not using. They're the 'geeks' of the castle, y'know? No harm in borrowing any. And the drawing part? Naminé could help with that, no prob."  
  
"I already asked Naminé...she said she'd be glad to help."  
  
"See? 2 outta 3 already!" He playfully hit Roxas on the back, the latter flinching in response.  
  
"And the family part...? I don't have a family, Axel."  
  
Axel gawked at Roxas for a good while, raising his eyebrows. It got silent in an instant, leaving Roxas confused out of his mind.  
  
"Uh," he whispered. "There isn't anything on my face, is there?"  
  
Axel snapped out of it and put his hand on his chin.  
  
"Nah, you're fine. It's just...hmm." Boy, how to explain this one. "Roxas? You sure you don't have a family...anyone at all?"  
  
"No..." Roxas replied swiftly.  
  
"Nothin'? You've got absolutely nothing, bud?" Axel was trying to get the right answer out of him, but Roxas just wouldn't get it.  
  
_Damn it._ _That's alright. He'll learn soon enough.  
  
_"We'll figure out this project thing later, ok? Take a nap or something, you look beat." Axel gave one last pat on the shoulder and left.  
  
  
"What just happened?" Roxas said to himself, taking his backpack up to his room.  
  
  
  
  
Roxas shifted around a lot during his nap. Even in his dreams, Roxas couldn't stop thinking about "family" and what Naminé had said...and especially that weird moment with Axel. This was getting infuriating now. He sat up from his bed and started groaning into his pillow, swinging his feet up in the air as he did. His little anger session was cut short when there was a loud bang on his bedroom door.  
  
"Hey Roxas!" hollered out Axel's muffled voice. "The boss says there's a meeting coming up in five minutes! Get ready fast."  
  
Great. They hardly had meetings anymore, so what's the deal?  
  
Roxas slumped out of bed and reached out into his closet, grabbing an Organization coat without checking for wrinkles or stains. He just wanted to get this over with.  
  
  
  
Where Nothing Gathers. It's been a long time since he's been in here, mostly because all the meetings involved the older members, and the times that he was there, he didn't have a clue as to what anyone was talking about. Roxas shuffled in his throne anxiously. More and more of the 13 seats were beginning to fill up. Soon, the entire Organization was there, and they were staring dead at Roxas' face. Axel didn't say anything about _everyone_ being here.  
  
"Good evening, friends." Xemnas' powerful voice still gave Roxas chills. Assorted greetings filled the air, Roxas quietly mumbling "good evening" along with them.  
  
"It's been quite some time since our last meeting, hasn't it? We're here to discuss a very special circumstance...one I believe all of you will find intriguing."  
  
Roxas and the other members' curiosity peaked. The boy glanced at Axel for a brief moment, and he was lounging back on this throne with a smug look on his face.  
  
Xemnas resumed speaking. "It has come to my attention that a fellow member of ours is in quite a...predicament."  
  
_What._  
  
"Number VIII, Axel, has provided me with this information. Our Number XIII, Roxas, appears to be struggling with a school project."  
  
_This has to be a joke.  
  
_"As recommended by him and based on my own judgement, I believe it's in our best interest to assist Roxas in any way we can."  
  
Roxas felt like his heart was going to give out at any moment. All eyes were on him, and it was like he was going to shrink. At this point, he really wanted to.  
  
"Make sure that Roxas' project is complete and done to the best of his--and our--abilities. Are we clear?"  
  
_Is this really happening.  
  
_Xemnas did an exaggerated hand motion as he looked at Roxas, giving him an oddly warm grin. Darkness began to surround Xemnas' body. "We are a family after all. Isn't that right, Roxas? Dismissed."  
  
Roxas could hear a few laughs in the room, noticeably Demyx and Larxene's. He put his head down in humiliation, in disbelief of what he just heard.  
  
_Are you joking.  
  
_As the other members left the Round Room one by one, Axel was the last one to leave, belting out a hearty, "Ha!".  
  
"Well, you've got your help now." He did his iconic got-it-memorized pose and teleported out of the room. In that moment, Roxas seriously wanted to jump out of that chair.  
  
_You. cannot. be. serious._


End file.
